You are here
Home > News > What bothers women the most on an airplane?

What bothers women the most on an airplane?

Though this study was done in the US, we are sure the problems and issues are global.

What bothers you most when you’re flying? Armrest hogs? Aggressive recliners? Stinky seatmates? Genfare — a company that works with transportation companies to update and improve systems for collecting transit fares — decided to get to the bottom of things. In a new study of 2,000 Americans who fly at least twice per year, the company identified the 17 top travel annoyances for airline passengers. The survey also looked at trains and automobiles.

“Getting from point A to point B has never been easier thanks to technology. However, we all know that the one aspect we can’t always control is the bad travel behaviour of fellow passengers,” says Tara Farnsworth, director of marketing at Genfare. “We were curious to find out which of these travel annoyances tops the list not just for airline travel, but also for the travelling and commuting we do on a daily basis.”

What Bothers Women: Airplane Travel Annoyances

And here’s the list of what bugged women the most, ranked in order. We also listed the percentage of men who said each habit was annoying, just for perspective:

  1. Getting Seat Kicked – 57.51% for women; 51.13% for men
  2. Body Odor – 26.28% for women; 26.40% for men
  3. Crying Baby/Child – 24.83% for women; 31.63% for men
  4. Talkative Passenger – 23.63% for women; 23.78% for men
  5. Inattentive Parents – 22.18% for women; 20.93% for men
  6. Getting Your Seat Pulled Back or Leaned on – 20.73% for women; 12.49% for men
  7. Drunk Passenger – 15.70% for women; 21.76% for men
  8. People Rushing to Get off Plane as Soon as it Gets to the Gate – 15.70% for women; 15.10% for men
  9. Passenger Reclining Seat – 15.36% for women; 14.98% for men
  10. Putting Feet up or Between Seats – 15.10% for women; 11.18% for men
  11. Snoring Passenger – 12.63% for women; 19.02% for men
  12. Bringing Smelly Food on Flight – 11.26% for women; 11.89% for men
  13. Man-Spreading (a.k.a sitting with legs wide apart) – 8.53% for women; 4.88% for men
  14. Passenger Removing Shoes or Socks – 7.08% for women; 6.66% for men
  15. Bright Screens on Phones or iPads During Nighttime Flights – 4.01% for women; 2.97% for men
  16. Non-Service Dogs – 2.30% for women; 2.97% for men
  17. Dressing Sloppy (ie. wearing pajamas/sweatpants on flight) – 1.11% for women; 2.26% for men.

Ranked: 17 Airplane Travel Annoyances, Overall

  1. Getting Seat Kicked – 54%
  2. Crying Baby/Child – 27%
  3. Body Odor – 26%
  4. Talkative Passenger – 23%
  5. Inattentive Parents – 21%
  6. Drunk Passenger – 18%
  7. Getting Your Seat Pulled Back or Leaned on – 17%
  8. Snoring Passenger- 15%
  9. People Rushing to Get off Plane as Soon as it Gets to the Gate – 15%
  10. Passenger Reclining Seat – 15%
  11. Putting Feet up or Between Seats – 13%
  12. Bringing Smelly Food on Flight – 11%
  13. Man-Spreading (a.k.a sitting with legs wide apart) – 7%
  14. Passenger Removing Shoes or Socks – 6%
  15. Bright Screens on Phones or iPads During Nighttime Flights – 3%
  16. Non-Service Dogs – 2%
  17. Dressing Sloppy (ie. wearing pajamas/sweatpants on flight) – 1%
Top